In this study, depolymerization via
neutral hydrolysis has been used to
co-process polyester and nylon 6 into
its constituent monomers. While the
study has been performed as a pure
literature study, it has been concluded
that co-processing of the two polymers
is feasible. The recovery of the
monomer products by phase separation
has been investigated with the
objective of retaining high yield and
product purity utilizing Aspen Plus
V9. TPA and CL have been identified
as the main products of the process
based on which the solid-liquid phase
separation to retrieve the monomers
has been implemented. 605.3 kg
TPA/hr has been recovered with 99.9%
purity and 484.7 kg CL/hr as liquid
with 91.2% purity. The separation of
water and EG has been modelled additionally
to give the possibility of recycling
a portion of the process water
within the system. To improve
energy recovery, a pinch analysis has
been conducted to identify the optimum
HEN of the model.